Richard Collier-Keywood has a confession to make. But for a “blinding revelation,” the new chair of the Welsh Rugby Union could have ended up at Twickenham, not the Principality Stadium.
A passionate rugby supporter, the former UK managing partner and Global vice-chair of PwC reveals that when head-hunters contacted him several years ago about the possibility of becoming the next chair of the Rugby Football Union, he declared an interest.
“I seriously thought about it,” recalls Collier-Keywood, who was born and raised in Nottingham, lives 50 miles south of London in east Sussex and even holds debenture seats at Twickenham.
“I had a couple of chats with the head-hunters. In terms of sport, rugby is my favourite. I play a bit of tennis as well, and one of my clients at PwC was the Lawn Tennis Association and so I am familiar with governing bodies too.
“But rugby is my sport where I never miss an international match. It was a dream job for me. It was about combining 35 years of professional experience with my passion and trying to make a difference – bringing everything you have learned from years and years of training to an organisation that you think you can really make a massive difference to.”
Dream job or not, a long chat with a close friend helped crystallize his growing own doubts about proceeding with the application because of the strength of his Welsh roots.
His mother was Welsh, one of four sisters who grew up in Maesteg in south Wales. A teaching job took her to England, where she met his father, a serving officer in the RAF during the Second World War, on a train journey and would later marry and settle in Nottingham, his father’s hometown.
But Collier-Keywood, despite his accent, was raised as Welsh. His childhood memories are filled with summer holidays spent with his six cousins in Wales, with regular family trips to Porthcawl, Sandy Bay or Llanharan.
“Mum was quite a dominant character,” he added with a chuckle. “She was 4ft 11in but what she said went so we had little option but to be Welsh! Some of my earliest memories were watching Wales play first on a black and white TV and then in colour, with mum sitting on the edge of her chair taking in every second of the match.
“My heroes were all from the Wales teams of 1976 to 1979. Growing up in Nottingham, I felt like I was in a minority, but I didn’t care. I loved it. I wanted to be Welsh and everyone at school knew it.”
Since his childhood days he has barely missed a Wales international, has debentures at the Principality too and proudly wears his Welsh shirt when watching the land of his mother play at Twickenham, a sense of identity that would be decisive.
“When I was seriously thinking about the RFU position, I had a sort of blinding revelation,” he added. “There are not many pictures of me on social media but the two on my WhatsApp are of me wearing a Wales shirt during a match in the 2015 World Cup that was played in Cardiff.
“The other one is me on the top of Kilimanjaro, having conquered Kilimanjaro, I took a Welsh rugby union shirt up to the top and put it on. That was my photo. When my friend reminded me of that, I knew I could not really be chair of the English union.
“I had no idea this job (WRU chair) would come up later. My parents died in 2013 and when I chatted about the RFU position with my friend, he just said: ‘You can’t!
“And he was right, not that I would have got the job anyway (Tom Ilube was appointed as the RFU chair in 2021). I have sat and cheered for Wales against England as long as I can remember, and I couldn’t become part of the RFU and cheer for England against Wales.”
Even when the head-hunters Odgers Berndtson returned a couple of months ago to ask if he wanted to put his hat in the ring for the Wales position, the 61-year-old still harboured doubts. His portfolio was already full, travel would be an issue and he had no direct experience of professional or community rugby.
But a key part of his former role at PwC was managing crises and creating organisational change. And with Welsh rugby facing its own annus horribilis – the sacking of Wayne Pivac, a BBC Wales investigation which alleged a toxic culture in the union of sexism, misogyny, and homophobia, which led to the resignation of Steve Phillips as chief executive, the threat of a player strike during the Six Nations and funding issues with the four Welsh regions, he felt he could make a difference.
His appointment to succeed Ieuan Evans as chair came after the Welsh clubs voted overwhelmingly for an overhaul of the union’s governance, including increasing the number of independent non-executives including the chair, and the number of female board members.
At the end of his first week, he has already met all the key stakeholders, including Wales head coach Warren Gatland, and pledged to fully implement all the recommendations when an independent panel appointed to review the union’s culture and behaviours publishes its findings next month.
With the appointment of a new chief executive expected to be confirmed shortly – interim ceo Nigel Walker was this week appointed to a new position as Wales’ first executive director of rugby, Collier-Keywood sees an exciting future.
He is supportive of Gatland’s tenure, committed to making four Welsh regions work with a more collaborative approach and creating a culture that everyone at the governing body is proud of. Broadening rugby’s fanbase and driving up commercial revenue are also key drivers.
“When this job came up, I took a bit of convincing, but a key part of what I did in my last six years at PwC was to manage crises,” added Collier-Keywood, who will spend two days a week in the role and is currently looking for a flat to rent in Cardiff. “That would involve understanding the situation, working out what was going wrong and offer support in those situations and create change.
“Once I decided to go for it, it was all guns blazing. I can bring an outside-in view from a strategic viewpoint. There already has been a huge amount of work done by Ieuan and Nigel. The union does so much great work in the community and that is a key part of the decision to take the job, the women’s game as well. Rugby is a Welsh religion and having that platform to better serve the community – as well as a successful game for men and women – is what drives me.”
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